From: owner-avalon-digest@smoe.org (avalon-digest) To: avalon-digest@smoe.org Subject: avalon-digest V6 #359 Reply-To: avalon@smoe.org Sender: owner-avalon-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-avalon-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk avalon-digest Tuesday, August 7 2001 Volume 06 : Number 359 Today's Subjects: ----------------- [AVALON] Roxy Music at Chronicle Pavilion 8/5/01 ["R. Jackson" ] [AVALON] Roxy Music on VH1 [ASchulberg@aol.com] Re: [AVALON] Vancouver Daily News Show Review plus commentary by...ME! :) ["Denis Smith" ] Re: [AVALON] Wembley Siren Tour Video Screens ["Andrew Shearer" Subject: [AVALON] Roxy Music at Chronicle Pavilion 8/5/01 Roxy Music at Chronicle Pavilion 8/5/01 by R. Jackson Last night took me east of Oakland to the Chronicle Pavilion at Concord. This was my first trip over there and it took me a lot longer to cover the hundred miles than I'd planned. The traffic on the 101 was nightmarish Sunday afternoon rush-back-to-the-city nonsense. I could do without ever spending another hour creeping along the 101 at 20 m.p.h., but I suppose it's inevitable. The venue is pretty far to the east, too. They really build these things out in the middle of nowhere. This particular venue is another one of the generic corporate sponsorship amphitheaters that seem to be popping up all over the place. If you've been to the Lakewood in Atlanta or Coral Skies in Palm Beach or Sacramento Valley Amphitheater in Marysville then you've been to the Chronicle Pavilion in Concord. The main difference is a dusty, sloping gravel parking lot that you climb out of before ascending a 20-degree incline for a hundred yards or so to get inside the venue. I'm glad I opted to wear tennis shoes. Considering the act, I almost went with black shoes that would have been far less comfortable. I saw a lot of women who'd dressed for the event in severe heels wobbling up to the venue and wondered if maybe a class action lawsuit was in order. Opening the show was Rufus Wainwright. Rufus is the son of famed folkies Loudon Wainwright III and Kate McGarrigle. His little trio was fairly entertaining. If you're a young, gay and want your friends to think you're in possession of really eclectic musical tastes you won't want to miss picking up his latest album, Poses. Roxy Music. I was 17 when Roxy Music broke up the last time and I never had a chance to catch them live. My childhood friend, Gary Shiffrar, turned me on to Flesh+Blood when I was 15 and it quickly became one of my favorite albums of all time. I once drove from coast to coast with only a cassette of Manifesto and Flesh+Blood in my car for entertainment. Over the years I've had the chance to see Bryan solo, but the thought of getting to see Roxy Music back on stage in their full glory always seemed like an impossibility. When news that this tour was being considered first surfaced I was apprehensive at first. I wondered who the touring band would be and how many key members would make it back into the fold. As fate would have it, this version of Roxy Music seems to be the strongest lineup since Eno's departure. Longtime Roxy Music members Bryan Ferry (vocals), Phil Manzanera (guitar), Andy Mackay (saxes, oboe and wind controller) and The Great Paul Thompson (drums) form the core of the current Roxy lineup, but rounding things out are some wonderful new members. First off, enough can't be said about Lucy Wilkins. Her contributions on both electric violin and modular synths more than made up for the absence of Eno and Eddie Jobson for me. She's a wonderful talent and her contributions to the evening's entertainment were significant. Chris Spedding, likewise, did a wonderful job on guitar. The rest of the personnel included Colin Good on keys, Julia Thornton on percussion, Zev Katz on bass, Sarah Brown on backing vocals and stepping in to sing her famous vocals from "Avalon," the inimitable Yanick Etienne. Together they played one of the best shows I've seen in years. As the lights went down in Concord and the smell of dope burning filled the air you could sense an incredible feeling of anticipation in the audience. Opening the set with "Remake/Remodel," the band laid down a brilliant combination of material spanning their entire career. Sometimes moody, sometimes fiery, the sense that you were experiencing something special surrounded the entire evening. The production design was stunning, and yet fairly economical, with lavish drapes and a rear projection screen. At several points in the evening the band was joined on stage by a handful Folies Bergere girls in various over-the-top costumes. On stage there was a curious blending of the old and the new, even extending to the band's choice of instrumentation. Lucy worked magic with ancient modular synths evoking the era that spawned Eno. Vintage keyboards could be seen surrounding Colin Good, as well. The Great Paul Thompson was seated behind a decidedly retro looking silver sparkle kit, while Phil Manzanera could be seen playing through cutting-edge Roland modeling guitar rigs and Andy Mackay occasionally picked up a Yamaha wind controller. Throughout the evening there were moments of sheer brilliance. Lucy's passionate violin solo in "Out of the Blue" was wonderful. Manzo changed around the solo from "My Only Love" and I was initially a bit disappointed until Spedding took over and played a second solo that left me on the verge of tears. The beautiful, emotional playing throughout the evening was really something to experience. Colin's lovely intro to "A Song For Europe" is another great example. Andy, Lucy and Colin's rendition of "Tara" springs to mind, as well. Songs like "Mother Of Pearl" and "Both Ends Burning" were like gifts. Using the rear projection to make the stage into a giant, eerie red lava lamp, the band delivered "In Every Dream Home a Heartache" as I'd never imagined it. Yanick Etienne's solos on "Avalon" were powerful and enchanting. All in all, the experience was as close to the ideal Roxy Music concert as I can imagine any incarnation of the band coming. When the opening strains of "For Your Pleasure" sounded late in the encore I felt like I'd had a wish granted. Now the big question. Will this tour produce new material? This is the first time I've seen Bryan touring without new material to promote. On the way home I kept wondering how he feels about that. Was this just a one-off tour to harvest a few fanbucks for old time's sake or will the band consider recording now? I would absolutely love to see Roxy Music again next year as they perform the classics plus a generous selection of tracks from a new album. However, no matter what the future of the band, last night in Concord was a dream come true. Thank you, Roxy Music. http://www.mediasieve.com/ ___________________________________________________________________________ The subliminable footer says: To unsub, mail majordomo@smoe.org with: unsubscribe avalon ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 06 Aug 2001 20:45:20 From: "Kelly Weinberger" Subject: Re: [AVALON] Do you have details on the Chi. gathering? To Karen, Brad, and anyone else who will be in Chicago this Thursday: there will be a little Avalonian get-together to share photos and reminisce about last week. Yes, we're quite an insatiable group. We will be at the following location: Elephant & Castle Pub, on Clark and Adams Streets in the Loop, at 5:30pm Hope to see lots of you there! Kelly >From: KarenASwenson@aol.com >Reply-To: avalon@smoe.org >To: avalon@smoe.org >Subject: [AVALON] Do you have details on the Chi. gathering? >Date: Mon, 6 Aug 2001 11:12:51 EDT > >Hi, > I recall a post regarding a Thu. get-together in a downtown pub. My >daughters (7 and 12) and I will be slogging around my old stomping grounds >in >Chi-town at that time. Would we be welcome? > I've been a Roxy/BF fan for 20 years but am a comparative newbie to the >list--made one posting which was roundly ignored. Saw Bryan during the >Bete >Noire tour, but the show--is it only a week ago?!?--was the pinnacle of >concertgoing for me. I made the "mistake" of subscribing to the regular >(as >opposed to digest) Avalon, and was astonished by the 80 emails in my box on >Saturday! It's remarkable there's such a great and (for the most part:-P) >literate bunch of fans out there. > I'll be away from computers after Tue. noon, so if anyone can let me >know >the lowdown on Thursday, I'd be grateful. >Karen >(And no, my daughters aren't big fans, they think their dad, and especially >me, are a bit loco.) > > >___________________________________________________________________________ >The subliminable footer says: >To unsub, mail majordomo@smoe.org with: >unsubscribe avalon > _________________________________________________________________ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp ___________________________________________________________________________ The subliminable footer says: To unsub, mail majordomo@smoe.org with: unsubscribe avalon ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 06 Aug 2001 16:53:56 -0500 From: Miles Goosens Subject: [AVALON] Fwd: For Your Pleasure A Concord review from a good fella on Fegmaniax, the Robyn Hitchcock list. I did have to chuckle at his inability to ID the final song of the show, given his choice of subject line... >Date: Mon, 06 Aug 2001 14:25:18 -0700 >Subject: For Your Pleasure >From: Tom Clark >To: In A Van With Sebadoh > >Hey All, >I took the wife and kid up to see Roxy Music last night at the Chronicle >Pavilion In The Middle of Nowhere Outdoor Music Center. I can't say I was >super hyped about going, since I'm finding it harder to get my shit together >enough to go to shows these days, but it really was a great time. >The set was, as you'd expect, classy and a little decadent: Huge, sheer >curtains pulled aside; mirror balls; fog. The screen behind the band showed >close-ups of the performance, but in a solarized black & white. Nice Touch. >Looking around, I was amazed at the demographic of the crowd. I usually >feel like the geezer square at shows these days, especially since I have no >visible "body modification" of any sort - well, not voluntary anyway. But I >swear the average age at this event was like 43. There was a couple sitting >behind us who must have been pushing 70! Egads! Nonetheless, it was >remarkably well attended and the crowd was very excited throughout. There >was even the occasional smell of reefer wafting through the air. That >always has a reassuring effect on me. >We were sitting front row, stage right. In front of us was a two-high by >six-wide stack of speakers devoted solely to the kick drum. I actually >contemplated moving my seat a few times as the sound pressure was strong >enough to mess my coiff. The last time this happened was at Lollapalooza >'92 when I had to leave because the combination of a half a tab of acid and >Ministry had me convinced me chest was about to explode. Anyway, also in >front of us was Andy Mackay. Great horn player, boring performer. >In the center of the stage, Bryan Ferry had it going on BIG TIME. Not only >did he look great, changing from leather suit to white jacket to silver lame >(that's 'lamay') suit, but he always looked like each word he was singing >was the most important one in the song. The women around us were literally >swooning all night. >I was happy to see that Manzanera can still tear it up. On some of the >band's earlier numbers he was just a madman - ripping all sorts of unique >sounds out of his guitar. Also a nice surprise was the addition of >journeyman Chris Spedding to the band. He and Manzanera really played off >each other well. >At the rear right of the stage were a couple of young ladies taking on >violin, percussion, and analog synth. They were fun to watch in that they >were always jumping around and really getting into the performance. >Okay, the music. They sounded fantastic - polished yet loose. While I'm >not overly familiar with the entire catalog, here are some of the songs I >remember them doing: >"Both Ends Burning" >"While My Heart Is Still Beating" >"In Every Dream Home A Heartache" >"My Only Love" >"Mother Of Pearl" >"Dance Away" >The finale was great as they went from "Avalon" into "Jealous Guy" into >"Re-Make/Re-Model" (IIRC) >Then for the encore it was "Love Is The Drug" and "Do The Strand" followed >by some really slow song I didn't recognize. >All in all it was a great show. I like to think it's "cooler" that I saw >them in 1983 at Radio City Music Hall, but I was really unfamiliar with them >at that time, and more than a little bit on the way to full blown >alcoholism. There's definitely something to be said for experience of age >and moderation of "spirit". > >Dancing, Dancing, >-tc ___________________________________________________________________________ The subliminable footer says: To unsub, mail majordomo@smoe.org with: unsubscribe avalon ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 7 Aug 2001 00:27:00 +0200 From: Stephen.Pepperrell@t-online.de (Stephen Pepperrell) Subject: Re: [AVALON] Black (Colin Vearncombe) - off-topic He also performed in Hamburg a few weeks back. Small disco, about. 300 fans there. Stephen Aleks Kocan schrieb: A while back a post "surprisngly" went off on a tangent and someone mentioned that they thought Black (aka Colin Vearncombe) has a great voice, but he had dissapeared off the scene. Looking at the concert listings for the Manchester Academy/Uni, it looks like he is due to perform there on the 18 Nov....tbc. Looks as though he might be resurrecting his career Aleks Make international calls for as low as $.04/minute with Yahoo! Messenger http://phonecard.yahoo.com/ ___________________________________________________________________________ The subliminable footer says: To unsub, mail majordomo@smoe.org with: unsubscribe avalon ___________________________________________________________________________ The subliminable footer says: To unsub, mail majordomo@smoe.org with: unsubscribe avalon ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 6 Aug 2001 15:28:44 -0700 (PDT) From: Scotty Subject: [AVALON] Re: Australian radio Hello again....forgot to mention before that this link takes you to a Roxy page....a few radio interview excerpts are available including an interesting comment from Eno about why he left the band... Bye for now, Scotty Make international calls for as low as $.04/minute with Yahoo! Messenger http://phonecard.yahoo.com/ ___________________________________________________________________________ The subliminable footer says: To unsub, mail majordomo@smoe.org with: unsubscribe avalon ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 6 Aug 2001 19:24:51 EDT From: ASchulberg@aol.com Subject: [AVALON] Roxy Music on VH1 Just got done reading a preview/review of a five night series premiering tonight on VH1 entitled "From the Waist Down: Men, Women & Music" that addresses how music fueled the sexual revolution. Cutting to the chase: "Thursday night's final (sic) installment turns to the gender benders of rock 'n' roll. The most obvious example of this is David Bowie's alter ego, Ziggy Stardust, but he was not the first to make a foray into this sexual gray area. Little Richard's eyeliner and lipstick caused a scandal in his day. Marc Bolan of the band T. Rex caused a stir when he performed in pumps. Roxy Music and the New York Dolls were all precursors to the Brit-pop new-romantic dandies of the early 1980s (Duran Duran, Adam Ant) who exploited sexual ambiguity for commercial success." I suppose this means there'll be at least a two second flashing picture of our heroes in a montage of "gender benders". Hope for more but expect the bare minimum. And, to raise a constant sore subject, when the hell will Roxy Music be accorded its rightful place in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame? Arnie ___________________________________________________________________________ The subliminable footer says: To unsub, mail majordomo@smoe.org with: unsubscribe avalon ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 6 Aug 2001 21:05:07 -0400 From: "Denis Smith" Subject: Re: [AVALON] Vancouver Daily News Show Review plus commentary by...ME! :) Toronto Guitarist??? I know he spends alot of time here having met him once or twice, but I thoug his current abode was LA? > Toronto guitarist Chris Spedding and singer Sarah Brown, Manzanera' http://princeofhappines.tripod.com/thepageofhappines.html > > > _________________________________________________________________ > Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp > > > ___________________________________________________________________________ > The subliminable footer says: > To unsub, mail majordomo@smoe.org with: > unsubscribe avalon ___________________________________________________________________________ The subliminable footer says: To unsub, mail majordomo@smoe.org with: unsubscribe avalon ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 06 Aug 2001 21:53:08 EDT From: InterEireann@aol.com Subject: Re: [AVALON] And When the Band's in Full Swing Daniel, pray tell the name of the Stockholm boot. I have my search parties out for the 2001 crop ( er.. actually my sister who lives in Glasgow, I live in NY a Roxy boot free zone I discovered while trawling Greenwich Village and the Lower East Side yesterday ) ___________________________________________________________________________ The subliminable footer says: To unsub, mail majordomo@smoe.org with: unsubscribe avalon ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 06 Aug 2001 21:23:59 -0700 From: Julie Long Subject: Re: [AVALON] Wow. Rob -- I couldn't agree more -- I mean about the show being SO great, not about you being unappealing while getting misty! My only quibbles: 1. The go-go dancers could have been up a little higher for better visual effect. 2. The bass and drums were louder than they really needed to be -- the sound at Concord wasn't bad and they had reached the level where they were working against, and not for, the whole in some of the numbers. This imbalance seemed to be corrected somewhat in the 2nd half of the show. But these are minor issues --- and it was so good. "Do the Strand" was better than the album version. And the set was gorgeous. I hope Roxy & Co enjoyed it as much as the audience -- they seemed to. I was really happy to see everyone on their feet by the end of the show (at least down in front closer to the stage). Julie "R. Jackson" wrote: > Concord was amazing. I thought I was going to cry a > couple of times during the show, though. Those albums have been such a part > of my life for so long that hearing some of it done live was emotionally > exhausting. I know how silly that sounds, and there's probably not much > less appealing than seeing a fat, middle-aged man get misty over a rock > band, but I couldn't help myself. > > No matter what's in store for the future, tonight was a real treat. > > -Rob > > ___________________________________________________________________________ > The subliminable footer says: > To unsub, mail majordomo@smoe.org with: > unsubscribe avalon ___________________________________________________________________________ The subliminable footer says: To unsub, mail majordomo@smoe.org with: unsubscribe avalon ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 07 Aug 2001 06:29:24 +0000 From: "Andrew Shearer" Subject: Re: [AVALON] Wembley Siren Tour Video Screens I always intrigued by the video shots on the front of Viva, that I assumed were taken from the screens at Wembley,(is that true?) Can anybody who was at those shows say how the video compares to the current tour? For example, was it a continuous shot of the band, for those at the back at the arena? Andrew _________________________________________________________________ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp ___________________________________________________________________________ The subliminable footer says: To unsub, mail majordomo@smoe.org with: unsubscribe avalon ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 07 Aug 2001 00:13:23 -0700 From: "Prince Of Happiness" Subject: Re: [AVALON] Vancouver Daily News Show Review plus commentary by...ME! :) Oh yeah...didn't Bryan find that guy during "The Bride Stripped Bare" sessions or something? The Prince of Happiness "Never lacked a sense of theatre On returning with the tan you've gained A head of world service, the best of your culture An evening of fun in the metropolis of your dream" - -Wire, "On Returning" http://princeofhappines.tripod.com/thepageofhappines.html >From: "Denis Smith" >Reply-To: avalon@smoe.org >To: >Subject: Re: [AVALON] Vancouver Daily News Show Review plus commentary >by...ME! :) >Date: Mon, 6 Aug 2001 21:05:07 -0400 > >Toronto Guitarist??? I know he spends alot of time here having met him >once >or twice, but I thoug his current abode was LA? > > > Toronto guitarist Chris Spedding and singer Sarah Brown, Manzanera' > > > >http://princeofhappines.tripod.com/thepageofhappines.html > > > > > > _________________________________________________________________ > > Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at >http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp > > > > > > >___________________________________________________________________________ > > The subliminable footer says: > > To unsub, mail majordomo@smoe.org with: > > unsubscribe avalon > > >___________________________________________________________________________ >The subliminable footer says: >To unsub, mail majordomo@smoe.org with: >unsubscribe avalon > _________________________________________________________________ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp ___________________________________________________________________________ The subliminable footer says: To unsub, mail majordomo@smoe.org with: unsubscribe avalon ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 07 Aug 2001 00:32:41 -0700 From: "Prince Of Happiness" Subject: [AVALON] Question about 1st Roxy LP... On the first American pressing, does it have Graham Simpson or Rik Kenton on it? Also, would $30-$35 be too much for an American version of the first LP with Rik Kenton on it? The Prince of Happiness "Never lacked a sense of theatre On returning with the tan you've gained A head of world service, the best of your culture An evening of fun in the metropolis of your dream" - -Wire, "On Returning" http://princeofhappines.tripod.com/thepageofhappines.html _________________________________________________________________ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp ___________________________________________________________________________ The subliminable footer says: To unsub, mail majordomo@smoe.org with: unsubscribe avalon ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 7 Aug 2001 04:01:21 EDT From: Etherealana@cs.com Subject: [AVALON] SO EMOTIONAL....... Just got back from the concert, and yes they played Mother of Pearl, I had tears!!! I could not believe I was there, seems so surreal!!! I can't wait to see Roxy again tomorrow, maybe by then it will sink in!! Ana ___________________________________________________________________________ The subliminable footer says: To unsub, mail majordomo@smoe.org with: unsubscribe avalon ------------------------------ End of avalon-digest V6 #359 **************************** ======================================================================== For further info, mail majordomo@smoe.org with: info avalon-digest